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Book Chat: Practice To Deceive

By Elizabeth Parker


I've got quite an eclectic mix for you this month; a new mystery, a promised follow-up, and a bonus review. Let's get started.

Practice to Deceive

The first book is one of those mainstream books which comes along all too rarely. "Practice To Deceive", by David Housewright, is a mystery in his series about a former cop turned private eye named Holland Taylor. Sound familiar? While being a common mystery formula, Housewright's detective is an enjoyable person to know, and is unusual for a tough guy, in that he is not a very large person. He is a talented martial artist, and has that quality so necessary among detectives, a bulldog's tenacity. He also has a quality necessary in fictional detectives, a group of unusual friends.

One of those friends is a computer geek, a hacker of the type so common in fiction, who can break into just about any facility. Quite handy in this plot, as Holland has been hired by a little old lady in Florida to recover her life savings, embezzled from her legally, though quite unethically, by her unscrupulous broker. Since she has no legal recourse, Holland hires his hacker friend, Steve VanderTop, to harass the broker. Now VanderTop is quite an interesting fellow. An heir to the VanderTop fortune, he lived homelessly on purpose for a number of years, yet still managed to attend the top society functions of the city. This lifestyle lasted until he discovered computers and Sarah. Now Steve lives in a converted warehouse with state-of-the-art computer equipment and Sarah. As you've no doubt guessed, Sarah is Steve's alter ego, when he is crossdressed.

Steve keeps his lustrous blond hair thick and shoulder length, and has eyebrows and a nose women would die for, according to Holland. At their first meeting in the book, Holland hires Steve for the job, then Steve promises to get started after Holland takes him to lunch. Then he transforms himself into Sarah in front of Holland, to test his friendship. He does an expert job, and comes out looking like a television actress at the end (don't we all?). Holland is astounded and disturbed at the change, thinking if he hadn't known, he would be one of the men making fools of themselves over Sarah at Ladies' Nights. We see Sarah extensively discussed and described in several lengthy scenes, then as an auxiliary character in further scenes throughout the book. She is central to the plot and kept the book quite spiced up for me.

Highly recommended. Strong, somewhat sexy transgender content and a good mystery to boot. I will warn you however, that though Sarah looks like a continuing character, she is not present in Housewright's first book, the Edgar award winning "Penance".


Several months ago, I promised to review "The Company of Knaves", by Simon Shaw, when it came out in the U.S.. Simon Shaw, if you'll remember, wrote "Killer Cinderella", and also writes this series about actor Phillip Fletcher, who is a villain of the first order. However the series revolves around him, so in this case the villain wins in each story. Now Fletcher, being an actor, naturally uses disguise as an important element of his nefarious plots. His schemes are not earth-shattering, just petty ones to advance his acting career. Thanks to early successes (and murders), his career has advanced quite rapidly. So much so, that he is jealous when a rival is selected for a knighthood, and he is not. So an important MP plays right into his hands when he asks for Phillip's help in recovering his late father's journal with which he is being blackmailed. And who should be doing the blackmail, but the owner of an S&M club which offers female impersonator performances. Naturally to perform his investigation, Phillip, must go undercover as a performer. By the way, this is the first time he has used this form of disguise to my knowledge.

Phillip moves into temporary lodging in drag, though he makes no attempt to disguise the fact that he is male. It is obvious he is portraying the typical female impersonator; gorgeous, yet a caricature of a woman. Phillip thinks he looks great, and the clientele at the club agree. In fact, he displays an unexpected talent for performing, disdaining the usual lip-synching for actual singing. He camps it up and makes quite a hit.

Drag takes central stage in this book, but for some reason it left me cold. Parts of it were exciting, but the real entertainment here is the irony lacing every word. It is fun but if you're looking merely for a transgender read, I'd suggest you look elsewhere, or do as I did, and get it from your library.


For my bonus review this month, I'd like to take you back to a book which has long been on our lists. That book is "The Triple Echo", by H.E. Bates. It has also been published as "Soldier in Skirts". I've been looking for this book forever, and finally scored a copy from the used book market. And thanks to whichever one of you finally sold their copy! You got a premium price for it but it was worth every penny.

In this book, a young soldier comes across a farm wife whose husband is a prisoner of the Japanese. They form a friendship and ultimately have an affair. He spends his week of leave with her, but when it comes time to leave, decides not to return. She agrees to the scheme, but it makes her quite nervous. So she imposes a necessary disguise on him, that of her sister. She starts by merely giving him a bust, at first just rolling up a sweater underneath the one he is wearing, but when that doesn't work very well, she sews cotton into one of her bras and has him wear that. He wears her clothes, but they are working clothes and he works her farm for her. But as time goes on, she meticulously enhances the disguise; manicuring his nails each night and having him grow his fair hair longer. She asks for a lighter lipstick than her own on a trip to the store, "for her sister", and then for bath beads which her sister enjoys. Many things are not explicitly laid out, but we get the strong impression that Barton, the soldier, is actually using the items she purchases for him.


Scene from 1973 film version of "Triple Echo"
Oliver Reed and offers Brian Deacon a drink at a dance

Things go well for months, but Barton begins to enjoy his new role a little too much and she gets a little contemptuous while being simultaneously turned on by his feminine look. It all comes to a head when a leering sergeant and his corporal visit the farm on a routine mission. The sergeant casts his roving eye on the pretty sister and invites them to a dance.

Normally a review would stop here, but since you'll undoubtedly never have a chance to read this book, I'll tell you what happens next.

The sergeant is, at first, forcibly rejected by the woman, but he comes back later when she is in town. She finds him at a cozy tete-a-tete with Barton, who is dressed in her blue dressing gown and looking remarkably feminine. After he leaves, she is furious, but it is apparent that Barton is growing stir-crazy. He wants to get out and go to the dance. He is also intrigued by the idea of dressing up completely. She still rejects the idea, but finds him preparing for the date on the day of the dance. He washes his blond hair, which is by now shoulder length. He has tried on several of her dresses, finally settling on a pink chiffon number. It fits him "a treat" and he tries to get her to go with him. She still cannot comprehend the idea and falls into a stupor while he gets ready.

She is aroused by the sergeant's arrival, and Barton's entry. "In the pink dress, fair hair in thick rolls at the back, shoulders half-covered with a blue shawl wrap, bust rather more prominent than usual, nails carefully manicured and touched a light shell pink, Barton looked so completely a woman that the dread in herself turned into a flash of anger and then to a stiffened sombre jealousy." Barton has obviously crossed the line into enjoyment of his role and excitement at the deception, a sensation I know we can all identify with.

Now the ending is rather predictably tragic, but Bate's way of presenting it is unique. Barton comes back from the date none the worse for the wear, yet the next day the sergeant shows up, knowing that Barton is an AWOL soldier, leaving us to guess as to whether new information came to light, or whether he was toying with Barton the previous night.

This is classic literature, all about a transgender episode right out of our best (and worst) fantasies, written by a classic author in a highly entertaining style. It was also made into a movie starring Brian Deacon and Glenda Jackson. I hope that someday the book will be republished. I will of course, let you know when it is.


Keep the suggestions coming! Some of them have paid off for all of us. Thank you all!


Bibliography:

Bates, H.E., "The Triple Echo", Michael Joseph LTD, 1070, (Hardback)

Housewright, David, "Practice To Deceive", W.W. Norton & Company, November 1997, ISBN: 0-88150-404-1 (Hardback)

Shaw, Simon, "The Company of Knaves", St. Martin's Press, January 1998, ISBN: 0-312-18069-1 (Hardback)



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